Sunday, August 02, 2015, 7:37 p.m.

Gary Becker, economics Nobel Laureate, dies at 83

CHICAGO  Gary Becker, a University of Chicago economics and sociology professor who received the Nobel Prize in economic sciences in 1992, has died at age 83.

Becker's stepson, Mike Claffey, said Becker died Saturday at Northwestern Hospital from complications after an extended illness.

Becker was cited for breaking ground by applying economic analysis to a wide range of human behavior and interactions. At the time he became a Nobel Laureate, Becker said he felt "economics had the tools" to handle social questions.

University of Chicago President Robert Zimmerman said Becker will be remembered as one of the foremost economic scholars of the 20th century.

Becker's mentor was famed economist Milton Friedman. The school honored them in 2011 with The Becker Friedman Institute for Research in Economics.